43 pounds of cocaine seized near Pine Valley

A 48-year-old Mexican citizen was arrested at the Interstate 8 checkpoint near Pine Valley on suspicion of trying to smuggle 43 pounds of cocaine into the country, federal officials said Thursday.

The man, who was driving a gray 2004 Nissan Sentra, stopped the car at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. He appeared nervous, and the driver and vehicle were sent to secondary inspection, where K-9 dogs alerted to the car.

Agents found a non-factory compartment behind the dashboard instrument cluster. Eighteen bundles of cocaine were hidden in the compartment, said Border Patrol Agent Scott E. Simon. The cocaine has an estimated street value of $430,000.

The man was turned over to the custody of a multiagency drug task force.